Systems and methods for content distribution

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are disclosed herein for distributing content over a local area network (LAN) between a first device within the LAN and a second device within the LAN. A first device multicasts a LAN-specific content beacon over the LAN. The LAN-specific content beacon includes an identifier uniquely identifying the first device. A second device sends a response to the LAN-specific content beacon requesting secondary content to be integrated into a display of the second device. The first device generates the secondary content based on profile information associated with the second device and unicasts the secondary content to the second device for integration into primary content being generated for display at the second device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.17/253,808, filed Dec. 18, 2020, which is a national stage applicationunder 35 U.S.C. § 371 of International Application PCT/US2018/062047,filed Nov. 20, 2018, all of which are hereby incorporated by referenceherein in their entireties.

BACKGROUND

This disclosure is generally directed to sharing media over a local areanetwork. In particular, methods and systems are provided for sharingcontent between devices within the local area network using beacons.

SUMMARY

A wide range of interactive devices have been developed to providecontent to users. These interactive devices include, for example, mobiledevices, tablets, computers, smart television systems and the like. Itis often desirable to embed content specific to the user with theprimary content being presented to the user via the interactive devicesin a non-obtrusive manner. For example, when a user is playing a videogame on a smart television system, they may prefer a particular musicalplaylist to be incorporated within the video game to improve thegameplay experience. However, the video game application and the smarttelevision may not have access to content such as the user's preferredmusical playlist. Conventionally, these interactive devices present onlythe primary content to the user without including any secondary contentspecific to the user, thus resulting in a subpar experience for theuser.

Recently, internet-enabled devices such as smart TVs, tablets, mobiledevices, and the like often access profiles that are tied to the usersto provide content such as advertisements specifically targeted to theusers to be embedded with the primary content. These systems rely onhaving access to the user profiles over a wide area network (WAN) suchas the Internet. It is desirable, however, to provide such contentspecifically targeted to the users to these interactive devices evenwhen the devices are not connected to a WAN. Additionally, conventionalsystems for providing such targeted content do not have access tocontent owned by the users (e.g., user's preferred musical playlist)unless the content owned by the users is made available via WAN by theusers. Users, however, may not wish to have their personal content beaccessible by third-party applications via WAN due to privacy andsecurity concerns.

Additionally, some systems may have an outdated or incomplete userprofile, or not have any data at all about the user. Such systems cantherefore search for targeted content within the LAN. Systems andmethods are provided herein to collaboratively support content discoveryand consumption within a LAN, without need for a target system to haveaccess to the user profiles.

Accordingly, to overcome these problems, systems and methods areprovided herein for distributing secondary content over a local areanetwork (LAN) between a first device within the LAN and a second devicewithin the LAN. Systems and methods described herein use a contentbeaconing system to authenticate the devices within the LAN and to sharesecondary content. The first device multicasts a LAN-specific contentbeacon over the LAN. The LAN-specific content beacon includes anidentifier uniquely identifying the first device. The second deviceprepares a response to the LAN-specific content beacon when the seconddevice wants to access secondary content available on the first device.The response to the content beacon includes identification informationuniquely identifying the second device and a request for the secondarycontent.

When the second device sends a response to the LAN-specific contentbeacon, the first device generates secondary content based on profileinformation corresponding to the second device. The secondary contentmay be generated based on retrieving data related to content previouslygenerated for display on the second device. Additionally, the firstdevice may identify content available to the first device and havingaccess rights that match the second device. The first device may alsoidentify content having metadata that matches the primary content beinggenerated for display at the second device. The first devicesubsequently unicasts the secondary content over the LAN to the seconddevice to be integrated into the primary content being generated fordisplay at the second device.

Additionally, a third device within the LAN may also send a response tothe LAN-specific content beacon to the first device. The first devicegenerates a second secondary content based on profile informationcorresponding to the third device and unicasts the second secondarycontent over the LAN to the third device for integration into a secondprimary content being generated for display at the third device.

In one implementation, the first device within the LAN multicasts aLAN-specific content beacon over the LAN. The multicast LAN-specificcontent beacon includes a request for secondary content to be integratedwith primary content being generated for display at the first device.The first device receives a response to the LAN-specific content beaconfrom a second device within the LAN requesting identificationinformation of the first device. The response to the LAN-specificcontent beacon includes an identifier uniquely identifying the seconddevice. In response to receiving the response to the content beacon fromthe second device within the LAN, the first device unicastsidentification information of the first device to the second device overthe LAN. Optionally, the first device also unicasts information relatedto an application in operation at the first device application withinwhich the primary content is displayed at the first device.

In response to unicasting the identification information of the firstdevice to the second device over the LAN, the first device receives aunicast stream from the second device over the LAN at the first device.The unicast stream includes the secondary content generated based onidentification information of the first device. The secondary contentmay be generated based on retrieving data related to content previouslygenerated for display on the first device. Additionally, the secondarycontent may be generated based on content to which the first device hasaccess rights. The first device, upon receiving the secondary contentfrom the second device, generates a display combining the receivedsecondary content and the primary content, and outputs the display withthe first device.

In this way, the first device (e.g., a smart television) receivessecondary content (e.g., a personal musical playlist) to be integratedinto primary content being generated for display at the first device(e.g., a video game) even when the first device is not connected to aWAN. Moreover, because the systems and methods described herein useLAN-specific content beacons to exchange identification information, theuser is presented only with content verified to be associated with themand is not presented with generic content. This improvement isparticularly relevant when inserting advertisements as the secondarycontent to maximize the effectiveness of the advertisement.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects and advantages of the disclosure will beapparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencecharacters refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative depiction of a system for distribution ofsecondary content between user equipment devices over a local areanetwork, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an illustrative media system, in accordancewith some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an illustrative user equipment device, inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an illustrative process for distribution ofsecondary content between first and second user equipment devices over alocal area network, in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an illustrative process for generating thesecondary content based on profile information corresponding to thesecond equipment device, in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an illustrative process for generating thesecondary content based on profile information corresponding to thesecond user equipment device and content available to the first userequipment device, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 7 shows an illustrative depiction of a system for distribution ofsecondary content between user equipment devices over a local areanetwork, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure; and

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of an illustrative process for distribution ofsecondary content between user equipment devices over a local areanetwork, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Methods and systems in accordance with the present disclosure aredescribed herein for distribution of secondary content over a local areanetwork (LAN) from a first user equipment device within the LAN to asecond user equipment device within the LAN using content beacons. Forexample, a user watching a movie on a mobile phone may wish to receive ascore update from a soccer match on the mobile phone withoutinterrupting the movie-watching experience. A tablet having access tothe score update exchanges identification information with the mobilephone associated with the user and provides secondary content to themobile phone in the form of a score update to be integrated with themovie being generated for display at the mobile phone. For example, abillboard within the movie may display the score update from the soccermatch received from the tablet.

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative depiction of a system 100 for distributionof secondary content between user equipment devices 102, 104, 106 over aLAN in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. System100 includes first user equipment device 102 (e.g., a tablet), seconduser equipment device 104 (e.g., a mobile phone associated with a firstuser) and third user equipment device 106 (e.g., a second mobile phoneassociated with a second user). Although FIG. 1 depicts first userequipment device 102 as a tablet, and second and third user equipmentdevices 104, 106 as mobile phones, it will be understood that anysuitable device for displaying and distributing content may be used,such as user television equipment 302, user computer equipment 304,and/or wireless user communications device 306 discussed below inrelation to FIG. 3 . User equipment devices 102, 104, and 106 may havecontrol circuitry (e.g., control circuitry 204 discussed later in moredetail with reference to FIG. 2 ) configured to generate primary contentand secondary content for display (e.g., on a display such as display212 discussed later in more detail with reference to FIG. 2 ) at one ormore of first, second, and third user equipment devices 102, 104, and106.

Moreover, FIG. 1 depicts first user equipment device 102 as displaying asoccer match (e.g., a match between Arsenal and Chelsea football clubs)for illustrating the operation of the present disclosure. It will beunderstood that, consistent with the present disclosure, first userequipment device 102 needs only to be able to access information aboutthe soccer match (e.g., score updates) and that generating the contentfor display at first user equipment device 102 is not required. Controlcircuitry 204 may access content information (e.g., information aboutthe soccer match) from one or more of a variety of content sources suchas over-the-air signals, cable network signals, and wired or wirelessstreaming sources discussed further in relation to content source 316 ofFIG. 3 .

Second user equipment device 104 is depicted displaying primary content(e.g., a movie such as “Wall-E”). Control circuitry 204 may receive theprimary content from one or more of a variety of content sources such asover-the-air signals, cable network signals, and wired or wirelessstreaming sources discussed further in relation to content source 316 ofFIG. 3 . First, second, and third user equipment devices 102, 104, and106 are connected over LAN 108 (e.g., a wired LAN connection such as anEthernet connection and/or a Wireless LAN connection such as a Wi-Finetwork within a home). For example, LAN 108 may be a switch (e.g., arouter) that connects first, second, and third user equipment devices102, 104, 106, and allows sharing of content over LAN 108.

When control circuitry of first user equipment device 102 receives ascore update related to the soccer match, the control circuitry of firstuser equipment device 102 multicasts a LAN-specific content beacon overLAN 108 to all devices connected to LAN 108 (e.g., second and third userequipment devices 104 and 106). The multicast LAN-specific contentbeacon comprises an identifier uniquely identifying first user equipmentdevice 102. For example, the multicast LAN-specific content beaconcomprises a media access control address (MAC address) of first userequipment device 102, which uniquely identifies first user equipmentdevice 102 to a network interface controller (NIC) of a device receivingthe multicast LAN-specific content beacon (e.g., user equipment devices104, 106).

When the multicast LAN-specific content beacon is received by therespective NICs of user equipment devices 104, 106 over LAN 108, therespective control circuitries of user equipment devices 104, 106determine whether to respond to the multicast LAN-specific contentbeacon. FIG. 1 depicts an embodiment in which control circuitry ofsecond user equipment device 104 sends a response to the multicastLAN-specific content beacon over LAN 108 while control circuitry ofthird user equipment device 106 does not send a response to themulticast LAN-specific content beacon. A person skilled in the art willunderstand that there may other embodiments where neither of the userequipment devices 104, 106 sends a response to the multicastLAN-specific content beacon or where both of the user equipment devices104, 106 send a response to the multicast LAN-specific content beacon.

The response to the multicast LAN-specific content beacon includesidentification information uniquely identifying second user equipmentdevice 104. For example, control circuitry of second user equipmentdevice 104 includes a MAC address of second user equipment device 104.In addition, the response to the multicast LAN-specific content beaconincludes a request for secondary content. Specifically, controlcircuitry of second user equipment device 104 sends a request forsecondary content to be integrated into the primary content (i.e., themovie “Wall-E”) being generated for display.

When control circuitry of first user equipment device 102 receives theresponse to the multicast LAN-specific content beacon over LAN 108, thecontrol circuitry of first user equipment device 102 identifies profileinformation corresponding to second user equipment device 104 based onthe received MAC address. For example, control circuitry of first userequipment device 102 may cross-reference a lookup table (LUT) toretrieve profile information corresponding to second user equipmentdevice 104. Control circuitry of first user equipment device 102 thengenerates secondary content based on the retrieved profile informationcorresponding to second user equipment device 104. For example, controlcircuitry of first user equipment device 102 may determine that seconduser equipment device 104 has previously processed data related tosoccer matches in which Arsenal has played, and therefore, generatesecondary content comprising of a score update related to the soccermatch between Arsenal and Chelsea football clubs. Although the abovedescription describes generating the secondary content based on the userprofile only, a person possessing ordinary skill in the art willappreciate that the content beacon may also account for additionalfactors including devices that have previously interacted with thecontent beacon as well as previously generated secondary content ingenerating new targeted secondary content.

The specific systems and methods for generating the secondary content atfirst user equipment device 102 are discussed in more detail below withreference to FIGS. 4-6 .

Finally, control circuitry of first user equipment device 102 unicaststhe generated secondary content over LAN 108 to second user equipmentdevice 104 for integration with the primary content being generated fordisplay at second user equipment device 104. As illustrated in FIG. 1 ,for example, control circuitry of first user equipment device 102unicasts a score update 110 related to the soccer match between Arsenaland Chelsea football clubs over LAN 108 to second user equipment device104 to be integrated within the movie “Wall-E” in a non-obtrusive mannersuch that a user viewing the movie on second user equipment device 104can view the score update without interruption of the movie-watchingexperience.

In this way, second user equipment device 104 receives secondary contentto be integrated into primary content being generated for display evenwhen second user equipment device 104 is not connected to a WAN.Moreover, because the systems and methods described herein useLAN-specific content beacons to exchange identification information, theuser is presented only with content determined to be of interest to themand is not presented with generic content which may not be relevant.This improvement is particularly relevant when inserting advertisementsas the secondary content to maximize the effectiveness of theadvertisement.

In some embodiments, third user equipment device 106 may also send aresponse to the multicast LAN-specific content beacon. The response tothe multicast LAN-specific content beacon includes identificationinformation uniquely identifying third user equipment device 106. Forexample, control circuitry of third user equipment device 106 includes aMAC address of third user equipment device 106. In addition, theresponse to the multi cast LAN-specific content beacon includes arequest for secondary content. Specifically, control circuitry of thirduser equipment device 106 sends a request for secondary content (e.g.,an advertisement) to be integrated into the primary content (e.g., avideo game) being generated for display.

When control circuitry of first user equipment device 102 receives theresponse to the multicast LAN-specific content beacon over LAN 108, thecontrol circuitry of first user equipment device 102 identifies profileinformation corresponding to third user equipment device 106 based onthe received MAC address. For example, control circuitry of first userequipment device 102 may cross-reference the LUT to retrieve profileinformation corresponding to third user equipment device 106. Controlcircuitry of first user equipment device 102 then generates a secondsecondary content based on the retrieved profile informationcorresponding to third user equipment device 106. For example, controlcircuitry of first user equipment device 102 may determine that thirduser equipment device 106 has previously processed data related tomovies belonging to the science fiction genre, and therefore, generatethe second secondary content comprising of an advertisement for anupcoming science fiction movie.

Finally, control circuitry of first user equipment device 102 unicaststhe generated second secondary content over LAN 108 to third userequipment device 106 for integration with the primary content beinggenerated for display at third user equipment device 106. As illustratedin FIG. 1 , for example, control circuitry of first user equipmentdevice 102 unicasts an advertisement for an upcoming science fictionmovie over LAN 108 to third user equipment device 106 to be integratedwithin the video game in a non-obtrusive manner such that a user playingthe video game on third user equipment device 106 can view theadvertisement without interruption of the gameplay experience.

Accordingly, control circuitry 204 of first user equipment device 102transmits two separate unicasts comprising respective secondary contentto second user equipment device 104 and third user equipment device 106.In an embodiment, second user equipment device 104 may also be targetedwith the advertisement related to the upcoming science fiction movieevent though second user equipment device 104 has previously notindicated any interest in such content based on data retrieved fromother devices within the LAN such as third user equipment device 106.

In some embodiments, the multicast LAN-specific content beacon includesa catalog of content available to be shared over the LAN from first userequipment device 102. For example, the catalog of available contentincluded within the multi cast LAN-specific content beacon sent fromfirst user equipment device 102 may include targeted advertisements,content from media assets stored on first user equipment device 102,content from media assets accessible via first user equipment device102, user profile information, and the like. The response to themulticast LAN-specific content beacon from second user equipment device104 and third user equipment device 106 may include a selection of oneor more content items from the catalog included within the multicastLAN-specific content beacon.

The multicast LAN-specific content beacon may include two levels ofsecurity. The first level of security may be provided by the LAN and/orthe WAN. For example, the multicast LAN-specific content beacon may onlybe transmitted over a secured Wi-Fi connection (e.g., Wi-Fi havingenterprise security) and not over open Wi-Fi networks. In someembodiments, the second level of security may be provided via asubscription model that are managed by the multicast LAN-specificcontent beacon owners. For example, third party vendors (e.g., videogame developers, movie content distributers, cable service providers,etc.) who wish to provide content to devices connected to a LAN maylicense their content to the owner of first user equipment device 102from which the multicast LAN-specific content beacon is generated.Accordingly, the content from such third-party vendors may be added tothe catalog of available content included within the multicastLAN-specific content beacon sent from first user equipment device 102over LAN 108. Additionally, devices integrating secondary content totheir primary content may use a subscription like mode managed by thecontent beacon owners. Specifically, devices generating the contentbeacons (i.e., content beacon owners) may authenticate other devicesconnected to the LAN and determine eligibility to receive unicastsecondary content based on the respective identification information andsubscriptions.

In one example of a distribution flow of secondary content between userequipment devices over a local area network, a first device (e.g., firstuser equipment device 102) accesses locally targeted content (e.g.,content whose distribution is intended to be limited to LAN 108). Thefirst device assembles a LAN-specific content beacon to be multicastover the LAN. As discussed above, the LAN-specific content beacon mayinclude a catalog of available content that the first device mayprovide. A second device connected to the LAN (e.g., second userequipment device 104) running an application (e.g., a video game) maysearch for content to be inserted within the application. The seconddevice may scan the LAN for any content beacons and find theLAN-specific content beacon multicast by the first device. The firstdevice and the second device may exchange authentication information toconfirm that the second device is authorized to access the contentavailable from the first device. The second device selects a contentfrom the catalog included within the LAN-specific content beacon andunicasts a request for the content. The first device, in response toreceiving the unicast request for the content from the catalog, unicaststhe content to the second device. The second device accordingly receivesthe desired content to be inserted within the application currently inoperation.

Although the description above describes the first device asmulticasting a content catalog over the LAN, the description is not solimited. In some embodiments, the first device may optionally, oradditionally, assemble a LAN-specific content beacon as a schedule ofcontent (e.g., like scheduled programming on a television broadcastingchannel). Specifically, the first device may begin multicasting theavailable content over the LAN. The second device may scan the LAN forspecific desired content and select the appropriate content using thebeacon schedule to determine the exact time when content of interestgets broadcasted.

As referred to herein, the term “content” should be understood to meanan electronically consumable media asset, such as televisionprogramming, as well as pay-per-view programs, on-demand programs (suchas video-on-demand (VOD) systems), Internet content (e.g., streamingcontent, downloadable content, Webcasts, etc.), video clips, audioclips, content information, pictures, rotating images, documents,playlists, websites, articles, books, electronic books, advertisements,blogs, chat sessions, social media applications, video games, and/or anyother media or multimedia and/or combination of the same. As usedherein, the term “multimedia” should be understood to mean content thatuses at least two different content forms described above, for example,text, audio, video, images, or interactivity content forms. Content maybe recorded, played, displayed, or accessed by the user equipmentdevices.

FIG. 2 depicts a generalized embodiment of an illustrative device (e.g.,user equipment devices 102, 104, 106) that display and/or distributesprimary content and secondary content over a LAN (e.g., LAN 108). Userequipment device 200 may be any of a plurality of user devices such as asmartphone, a tablet, personal computer, set-top box, etc. (discussedfurther below with respect to FIG. 3 ). User equipment device 200 mayreceive primary content and data via input/output (hereinafter “I/O”)path 202. I/O path 202 may provide primary content (e.g., on-demandprogramming, Internet content, content available over LAN or WAN, and/orother primary content) and data to control circuitry 204, which includesprocessing circuitry 206 and storage 208. Control circuitry 204 may beused to send and receive commands, requests, and other suitable datausing I/O path 202. I/O path 202 may connect control circuitry 204 (andspecifically processing circuitry 206) to one or more communicationspaths (described below in relation to FIG. 3 ). I/O functions may beprovided by one or more of these communications paths but are shown as asingle path in FIG. 2 to avoid overcomplicating the drawing.

Control circuitry 204 may be based on any suitable processing circuitrysuch as processing circuitry 206. Processing circuitry should beunderstood to mean circuitry based on one or more microprocessors,microcontrollers, digital signal processors, programmable logic devices,field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application-specific integratedcircuits (ASICs), etc., and may include a multi-core processor (e.g.,quad-core). In some embodiments, processing circuitry may be distributedacross multiple separate processor or processing units, for example,multiple of the same type of processing units (e.g., two Intel Core i7processors) or multiple different processors (e.g., Ryzen processor withintegrated CPU and GPU processing cores) or may include a multi-coreprocessor (e.g., dual-core, quad-core, hexa-core, or any suitable numberof cores) or supercomputer. In some embodiments, control circuitry 204executes instructions for an application stored in memory (e.g., memory208). Specifically, control circuitry 204 may be instructed by a mediaapplication to perform the functions discussed above and below. Forexample, the media application may provide instructions to controlcircuitry 204 to multicast the LAN-specific content beacon and generatethe secondary content based on profile information associated with auser device responding to the multicast LAN-specific content beacon. Insome implementations, any action performed by control circuitry 204 maybe based on instructions received from the media application.

Control circuitry 204 may include tuning circuitry, such as one or moreanalog tuners, one or more MP3 decoders or other digital decodingcircuitry, or any other suitable tuning or audio circuits orcombinations of such circuits. Encoding circuitry (e.g., for convertinganalog or digital signals to signals for storage in storage 208) mayalso be provided. Control circuitry 204 may also include scalercircuitry for upconverting and downconverting content into the preferredoutput format of user equipment device 200, and converter circuitry forconverting between digital and analog signals. The tuning and encodingcircuitry may be used by user equipment device 200 to receive, play, andbuffer content. The circuitry described herein, including for example,the tuning, audio generating, encoding, decoding, encrypting,decrypting, scaler, and analog/digital circuitry, may be implementedusing software running on one or more general purpose or specializedprocessors. If storage 208 is provided as a separate device from userequipment device 200, the tuning and encoding circuitry may beassociated with storage 208.

Storage 208 may be any device for storing electronic data, such asrandom-access memory, solid state devices, quantum storage devices, harddisk drives, non-volatile memory or any other suitable fixed orremovable storage devices, and/or any combination of the same. Controlcircuitry 204 may allocate portions of storage 208 for various purposessuch as caching application instructions, recording media assets,storing portions of a media asset, buffering segments of media, etc. Asdescribed herein, storage 208 may be used to store one or more LUTsstoring a number of MAC addresses associated with a plurality of userequipment devices and their corresponding profile information.

A user may send instructions to control circuitry 204 using user inputinterface 210. User input interface 210 may be any suitable user inputinterface, such as a remote control, mouse, trackball, keypad, keyboard,touch screen, touchpad, stylus input, joystick, voice recognitioninterface, or other user input interfaces. Instructions to controlcircuitry 204 may be transmitted through I/O path 202, that couldconsist of a video tracking and detection mechanism, Internet of Things(IoT) and home automation triggers, emergency alert systems, andsoftware or hardware communication pipelines and/or notificationcenters.

Display 212 may be provided as a stand-alone device or integrated withother elements of each one of user equipment device 200. For example,display 212 may be a touchscreen or touch-sensitive display, aprojector, or a casting device. In such circumstances, user inputinterface 210 may be integrated with or combined with display 212.Display 212 may be one or more of a monitor, a television, aliquid-crystal display (LCD) for a mobile device, silicon display, e-inkdisplay, light-emitting diode (LED) display, or any other suitableequipment for displaying visual images. Graphics processing circuitrymay generate the output to the display 212. In some embodiments, thegraphics processing circuitry may be external to processing circuitry206 (e.g., as a graphics processing card that communicates withprocessing circuitry 206 via I/O path 202) or may be internal toprocessing circuitry 206 or control circuitry 204 (e.g., on a samesilicone die as control circuitry 204 or processing circuitry 206). Insome embodiments, the graphics processing circuitry may be used toreceive, display, and play content.

Speakers 214 may be provided as integrated with other elements of userequipment device 200 or may be stand-alone units. The audio component ofvideos and other content displayed on display 212 may be played throughspeakers 214. In some embodiments, the audio may be distributed to areceiver (not shown), which processes and outputs the audio via speakers214. The speakers 214 may be part of, but not limited to, a homeautomation system.

The media application may be implemented using any suitablearchitecture. For example, it may be a stand-alone application whollyimplemented on user equipment device 200. The user interface applicationand/or any instructions for performing any of the embodiments discussedherein may be encoded on computer-readable media. Computer-readablemedia includes any media capable of storing data. In some embodiments,the media application may be configured to generate the secondarycontent based on profile information corresponding to second userequipment device 104 (discussed further in relation to FIGS. 5 and 6 ).

FIG. 3 depicts an exemplary media system in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure in which user equipment devices 102, 104,106, and user equipment device 200 can be implemented in system 300 ofFIG. 3 as user television equipment 302, user computer equipment 304,wireless user communications device 306, or any other type of userequipment suitable for accessing media. For simplicity, these devicesmay be referred to herein collectively as user equipment. Userequipment, on which the media application is implemented, may functionas a stand-alone device or may be part of a network of devices. Variousnetwork configurations of devices may be implemented and are discussedin more detail below.

User television equipment 302 may include a set-top box, an integratedreceiver decoder (IRD) for handling satellite television, a televisionset, a digital storage device, or other user television equipment. Oneor more of these devices may be integrated to be a single device, ifdesired. User computer equipment 304 may include a PC, a laptop, astreaming content aggregator, a PC media center, or other user computerequipment. It may include devices like digital assistance, smartspeakers, and/or home automation. Wireless user communications device306 may include a smartphone, a portable video player, a portable musicplayer, a portable gaming machine, a tablet, a wireless streaming deviceor other wireless device. It should be noted that the lines are blurredwhen trying to classify a device as one of the above devices and onedevice may be categorized into one or more of the categories listedabove.

In system 300, there is typically more than one of each type of userequipment but only one of each is shown in FIG. 3 to avoidovercomplicating the drawing. In addition, each user may utilize morethan one type of user equipment (e.g., a user may have a computer and atablet) and also more than one of each type of user equipment device(e.g., a user may have multiple television sets).

The user equipment may be coupled to communications network 314. Namely,user television equipment 302, user computer equipment 304, and wirelessuser communications device 306 are coupled to communications network 314via communications paths 308, 310, and 312, respectively. Communicationsnetwork 314 is used by the user equipment to obtain primary content. Thesecondary content to be shared between user equipment devices 102, 104,and 106 is distributed over a LAN such as LAN 108 as described above inconnection with FIG. 1 . Communications network 314 may be one or morenetworks including the Internet, a mobile phone network, ad-hoc network,cable network, or other types of communications network or combinationof communications networks. Paths 308, 310, and 312 may separately ortogether include one or more communications paths, including anysuitable wired or wireless communications path or combination of suchpaths. Path 312 is drawn with dotted lines to indicate that in theexemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 3 it is a wireless path and paths 308and 310 are drawn as solid lines to indicate they are wired paths(although these paths may be wireless paths). Communications with theuser equipment may be provided by one or more of these communicationspaths but are shown as a single path in FIG. 3 to avoid overcomplicatingthe drawing. The user equipment devices may communicate with each otherdirectly through an indirect path via communications network 314 orthrough a direct path using a device-to-device network (e.g., wiredconnection such as an Ethernet connection).

System 300 includes content source 316 and guidance data source 318coupled to communications network 314 via communications paths 320 and322, respectively. Paths 320 and 322 may include any of thecommunications paths described above in connection with paths 308, 310,and 312. Communications with the content source 316 and guidance datasource 318 may be exchanged over one or more communications paths butare shown as a single path in FIG. 3 to avoid overcomplicating thedrawing. In addition, there may be more than one of each of contentsource 316 and guidance data source 318, but only one of each is shownin FIG. 3 to avoid overcomplicating the drawing. In some embodiments,content source 316 and guidance data source 318 are integrated as onesource device. Although communications between sources 316 and 318 withuser equipment 302, 304, and 306 are shown as through communicationsnetwork 314, in some embodiments, sources 316 and 318 may communicatedirectly with user equipment devices 302, 304, and 306 viacommunications paths (not shown) such as those described above inconnection with paths 308, 310, and 312.

Content source 316 may include one or more types of media distributionequipment such as a media server, cable system headend, satellitedistribution facility, intermediate distribution facilities and/orservers, Internet providers, on-demand media servers, and other mediaproviders. Content source 316 may be the originator of media content ormay not be the originator of media content. Content source 316 may alsoinclude a remote media server used to store different types of mediacontent (including a media asset selected by a user), in a locationremote from any of the user equipment. Systems and methods for providingremotely stored media to user equipment are discussed in greater detailin connection with Ellis et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/332,244, filed Jun. 11, 1999, which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

Guidance data source 318 may provide media guidance data, such as thecontent information discussed above in relation to FIG. 1 or any otherdata related to a media asset or profile of a user. Guidance data may beprovided to the user equipment using any suitable approach such as via adata feed or by querying a database of guidance data source 318. Forexample, control circuitry 204 may transmit a query to a database ofguidance data source 318 comprising a command to retrieve metadata andan identifier uniquely representing a media asset. In response totransmitting the query, control circuitry 204 may receive a responsefrom the database comprising metadata for the media asset uniquelyrepresented by the identifier.

System 300 is intended to illustrate a number of approaches, or networkconfigurations, by which user equipment devices and sources of mediacontent and guidance data may communicate with each other for thepurpose of accessing media and data related to the media. Theconfiguration of the devices and paths in system 300 may change withoutdeparting from the scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an illustrative process 400 for distribution ofsecondary content between first and second user equipment devices over alocal area network, in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure. Process 400 begins at 402, where control circuitry 204 offirst user equipment device 102 multicasts a LAN-specific content beaconover LAN 108. As discussed above, the multicast LAN-specific contentbeacon includes an identifier uniquely identifying first user equipmentdevice 102. For example, the multicast LAN-specific content beaconcomprises a media access control address (MAC address) of first userequipment device 102, which uniquely identifies first user equipmentdevice 102 to a network interface controller (NIC) of a device receivingthe multicast LAN-specific content beacon (e.g., user equipment devices104, 106) over LAN 108.

At 404, control circuitry 204 determines whether a response to themulticast LAN-specific content beacon over LAN 108 has been received.Specifically, control circuitry 204 of first user equipment device 102periodically multicasts the LAN-specific content beacon over LAN 108until a response is received from one of more other user equipmentdevices connected within LAN 108. If no response to the multicastLAN-specific content beacon is received, control circuitry 204 of firstuser equipment device 102 periodically multicasts the LAN-specificcontent beacon over LAN 108.

Once a response to the multi cast LAN-specific content beacon over LAN108 is received, the process proceeds to 406. As discussed above, theresponse to the multicast LAN-specific content beacon over LAN 108includes identification information uniquely identifying the userequipment device responding to the multicast LAN-specific contentbeacon. For example, control circuitry 204 of second user equipmentdevice 104 includes a MAC address of user equipment device 104 and arequest for secondary content in the response to the multicastLAN-specific content beacon.

At 406, secondary content is generated by control circuitry 204 of firstuser equipment device 102 based on profile information corresponding tosecond user equipment device 104. For example, control circuitry 204 offirst user equipment device 102 may cross-reference a LUT stored withinstorage 208 to retrieve profile information corresponding to second userequipment device 104. At 408, control circuitry 204 of first userequipment device 102 unicasts the generated secondary content to seconduser equipment device 104 for integration with primary content beinggenerated for display at display 212 of second user equipment device104. For example, control circuitry 204 of first user equipment device102 generates secondary content comprising a score update related to thesoccer match between Arsenal and Chelsea football clubs at 406 andunicasts the secondary content comprising a score update related to thesoccer match to second user equipment device 104 for integration withthe movie “Wall-E” being generated for display at display 212 of seconduser equipment device 104.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an illustrative process 500 for generating thesecondary content based on profile information corresponding to thesecond equipment device, in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure. At 502, control circuitry 204 of first user equipment device102 receives a response to the LAN-specific content beacon. At 504,control circuitry 204 of first user equipment device 102 checks whetherthe received response to the content beacon includes identificationinformation uniquely identifying the device responding to the contentbeacon (e.g., second user equipment device 104). If, at 504, controlcircuitry 204 of first user equipment device 102 determines that thereceived response to the content beacon does not include identificationinformation uniquely identifying the device responding to the contentbeacon (e.g., second user equipment device 104), the process proceeds to506. At 506, control circuitry 204 of first user equipment device 102drops the received response to content beacon as non-responsive andcontinues to periodically multicast the LAN-specific content beacon.

If, at 504, control circuitry 204 of first user equipment device 102determines that the received response to the content beacon includesidentification information uniquely identifying the device responding tothe content beacon (e.g., second user equipment device 104), the processproceeds to 508. At 508, control circuitry 204 of first user equipmentdevice 102 extracts identification information uniquely identifying thedevice responding to the content beacon from the received response. Forexample, control circuitry 204 of first user equipment device 102extracts a MAC address included within the response to the contentbeacon.

At 510, control circuitry 204 of first user equipment device 102attempts to match the extracted identification information from theresponse to the content beacon with profile information stored on firstuser equipment device 102. For example, control circuitry 204 of firstuser equipment device 102 accesses a plurality of LUTs stored on itsstorage 208 to determine whether identification information uniquelyidentifying second user equipment device 104 matches profile informationstored on first user equipment device 102.

If control circuitry 204 of first user equipment device 102 is unable toidentify profile information matching the identification informationuniquely identifying second user equipment device 104, the processproceeds to 512. Specifically, at 512, control circuitry 204 of firstuser equipment device 102 generates secondary content based only on thelimited information included within the response to the content beacon(e.g., type of device, etc.). If, on the other hand, control circuitry204 of first user equipment device 102 identifies profile informationmatching the identification information uniquely identifying second userequipment device 104, the process proceeds to 514 and secondary contentis generated based on the profile information in accordance with FIG. 6described below.

At 516, control circuitry 204 of first user equipment device 102unicasts the generated secondary content to second user equipment device104. For example, control circuitry 204 of first user equipment device102 unicasts content information retrieved via guidance data source 318that is of interest to a user associated with second user equipmentdevice 104 to second user equipment device 104 for integration withprimary content being generated for display at display 212 of seconduser equipment device 104.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an illustrative process 600 for generating thesecondary content based on profile information corresponding to thesecond user equipment device and content available to the first userequipment device, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure.At 602, control circuitry 204 of first user equipment device 102identifies content available to first user equipment device 102. Forexample, control circuitry 204 of first user equipment device 102determines content to which first user equipment device 102 has accessrights or content that is available via content source 316 and guidancedata source 318.

At 604, control circuitry 204 of first user equipment device 102retrieves data related to processed content associated with the seconddevice based on profile information identified as corresponding tosecond user equipment device 104. For example, control circuitry 204 offirst user equipment device 102 accesses a content-viewing historyassociated with second user equipment device 104. As used herein,“processed” means manifested either by displaying the content on adisplay such as display 212, outputting content to speakers and/orheadphones such as speakers 214, or any other means of processingcontent for consumption as understood by a person possessing ordinaryskill in the art.

At 606, control circuitry 204 of first user equipment device 102determines whether processed content associated with second userequipment device 104 matches content identified to be available to firstuser equipment device 102. If, at 606, control circuitry 204 of firstuser equipment device 102 determines that processed content associatedwith second user equipment device 104 matches content identified to beavailable to first user equipment device 102, the process proceeds to608, where control circuitry 204 of first user equipment device 102generates secondary content based on processed content associated withsecond user equipment device 104 matching the content identified to beavailable to first user equipment device 102. For example, when controlcircuitry 204 of first user equipment device 102 determines that soccermatches in which Arsenal plays have been consumed via second userequipment device 104 and that a score update related to a soccer matchbetween Arsenal and Chelsea football clubs is available, controlcircuitry 204 of first user equipment device 102 generates the secondarycontent based on the soccer match.

Alternatively, or additionally, process 600 also includes generatingsecondary content based on the primary content being generated fordisplay at second user equipment device 104. At 610, control circuitry204 of first user equipment device 102 retrieves information from seconduser equipment device 104 about the primary content being generated fordisplay at second user equipment device 104. For example, controlcircuitry 204 of first user equipment device 102 may send a request tosecond user equipment device 104 for information about the primarycontent being generated for display at second user equipment device 104.

At 612, control circuitry 204 of first user equipment device 102determines a subset of the content identified to be available to firstuser equipment device 102 that relates to metadata associated with theprimary content being generated for display at second user equipmentdevice 104. For example, control circuitry 204 of first user equipmentdevice 102, based on receiving information that the primary contentbeing generated for display at second user equipment device 104 is themovie “Wall-E,” may determine that the user viewing the movie “Wall-E”is likely to be interested in upcoming release of animated movies.Accordingly, control circuitry 204 of first user equipment device 102may determine a subset of the content identified to be available tofirst user equipment device 102 that relates to upcoming animatedmovies.

At 614, control circuitry 204 of first user equipment device 102generates the secondary content based on the determined subset ofcontent identified to be available to first user equipment device 102.For example, control circuitry 204 of first user equipment device 102generates the secondary content comprising an advertisement for themovie, “Incredibles II” to be unicast to second user equipment device104.

Alternatively, or additionally, process 600 also includes generatingsecondary content based on access rights associated with second userequipment device 104. Specifically, at 616, control circuitry 204 offirst user equipment device 102 retrieves, from the profile informationcorresponding to second user equipment device 104, a list of content towhich second user equipment device 104 has access rights. For example,control circuitry 204 of first user equipment device 102 may determinethat second user equipment device 104 is associated with a minor andtherefore has restricted access to content. At 618, control circuitry204 of first user equipment device 102 determines a subset of contentidentified to be available to first user equipment device 102 thatmatches the access rights associated with second user equipment device104. At 620, control circuitry 204 of first user equipment device 102generates the secondary content based on the determined subset ofcontent identified that matches the access rights associated with seconduser equipment device 104.

As noted above, subroutines 604 (comprising steps 604, 606, and 608),610 (comprising steps 610, 612, and 614), and 616 (comprising steps 616,618, and 620) of process 600 for generating the secondary content may beperformed in combination with any other subroutines of the process 600or performed by themselves.

FIG. 7 shows an illustrative depiction of a system 700 for distributionof secondary content between user equipment devices 702, 704, 706 over aLAN in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. System700 includes first user equipment device 702 (e.g., a tablet), seconduser equipment device 704 (e.g., a mobile phone associated with a firstuser) and third user equipment device 706 (e.g., a second mobile phoneassociated with a second user). Although FIG. 7 depicts first userequipment device 702 as a tablet, and second and third user equipmentdevices 704, 706 as mobile phones, it will be understood that anysuitable device for displaying and distributing content may be used,such as user television equipment 302, user computer equipment 304,and/or wireless user communications device 306 discussed above inrelation to FIG. 3 . User equipment devices 702, 704, and 706 may havecontrol circuitry (e.g., control circuitry 204 discussed above)configured to generate primary content and secondary content for display(e.g., on a display such as display 212 discussed above) at one or moreof first, second, and third user equipment devices 702, 704, and 706.

While FIG. 1 describes a “content broadcast” system where first userequipment device 102 initiates the broadcast the availability of acontent beacon, FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of a “content request”system in which the request for the content beacon is initiated by thetarget device (e.g., second user equipment device 104) that desires thesecondary content to display in conjunction with the primary content. Asdiscussed above in connection with FIG. 1 , the depiction of first userequipment device 702 as displaying a soccer match is for illustrativepurposes only. It will be understood that, consistent with the presentdisclosure, first user equipment device 702 needs only to be able toaccess information about the soccer match (e.g., score updates) and thatgenerating the content for display at first user equipment device 702 isnot required. Control circuitry 204 may access content information(e.g., information about the soccer match) from one or more of a varietyof content sources such as over-the-air signals, cable network signals,and wired or wireless streaming sources as discussed above in relationto content source 316 of FIG. 3 . In some embodiments, control circuitry204 may receive content information from guidance data source 318 asdescribed in more detail below in connection with FIG. 3 .

Second user equipment device 704 is depicted displaying primary content(e.g., a movie such as “Wall-E”). Control circuitry 204 may receive theprimary content from one or more of a variety of content sources such asover-the-air signals, cable network signals, and wired or wirelessstreaming sources discussed above in relation to content source 316 ofFIG. 3 . First, second, and third user equipment devices 702, 704, and706 are connected over LAN 708 (e.g., a wired LAN connection such as anEthernet connection and/or a Wireless LAN connection such as a Wi-Finetwork within a home). For example, LAN 708 may be a switch (e.g., arouter) that connects first, second, and third equipment devices 702,704, 706, and allows sharing of content over LAN 708.

Control circuitry of user equipment device 704, when generating theprimary content for display at second user equipment device 704, maydetermine to incorporate secondary content that would be of interest toa user associated with user equipment device 704. For example, when auser is in the middle of watching a movie (e.g., “Wall-E”), the controlcircuitry of second user equipment device 704 may determine that theuser may be interested in a score update related to a soccer matchbetween Arsenal and Chelsea football clubs. In another exampleembodiment, the control circuitry of second user equipment device 704may determine to insert an advertisement targeted to the user associatedwith second user equipment device 704 when generating the movie fordisplay. As illustrated in FIG. 7 , the control circuitry of second userequipment device 704 multicasts a LAN-specific content beacon over LAN708 to all devices connected to the LAN 708 (e.g., first and third userequipment devices 702 and 706) requesting secondary content to beintegrated with the primary content being generated for display atsecond user equipment device 704.

FIG. 7 depicts an embodiment in which control circuitry of first userequipment device 702 sends a response to the multicast LAN-specificcontent beacon over LAN 708 while control circuitry of third userequipment device 706 does not send a response to the multicastLAN-specific content beacon. A person skilled in the art will understandthat there may be other embodiments where neither of first and thirduser equipment devices 702, 706 sends a response to the multicastLAN-specific content beacon or where both of first and third userequipment devices 702, 706 send a response to the multicast LAN-specificcontent beacon.

As shown in FIG. 7 , the control circuitry of first user equipmentdevice 702 sends a response to the multicast LAN-specific content beaconover LAN 708. The response to the multicast LAN-specific content beaconcomprises an identifier uniquely identifying first user equipment device702. For example, the response to the multicast LAN-specific contentbeacon comprises a media access control address (MAC address) of firstuser equipment device 702, which uniquely identifies first userequipment device 702 to a network interface controller (NIC) of seconduser equipment device 704. In addition, the response to the multicastLAN-specific content beacon includes a request for identificationinformation uniquely identifying second user equipment device 704.

When second user equipment device 704 receives the response to themulticast LAN-specific content beacon including the request foridentification information, control circuitry 204 of second userequipment device 704 unicasts to first user equipment device 702 (basedon identification information of first user equipment device 702included with the response to the multicast LAN-specific content beacon)the requested identification information uniquely identifying seconduser equipment device 704. Optionally, the control circuitry of seconduser equipment device 704 also unicasts information related to primarycontent being generated for display at second user equipment device 704to first user equipment device 702. For example, control circuitry ofsecond user equipment device 704 unicasts a MAC address of second userequipment device 704 and information related to the primary content(i.e., the movie “Wall-E”) being generated for display at second userequipment device 704.

In response to receiving the unicast from second user equipment device704, the control circuitry of first user equipment device 702 identifiesprofile information corresponding to second user equipment device 704based on the received MAC address. For example, control circuitry offirst user equipment device 702 may cross-reference a LUT to retrieveprofile information corresponding to second user equipment device 704.Alternatively, if first user equipment device 702 determines that thereis no profile information corresponding to second user equipment device704, first user equipment device 702 may multicast a request over LAN708 for the content desired by second user equipment device 704. Forinstance, the third user equipment device 706 may respond to themulticast LAN-specific content beacon requesting profile informationcorresponding to second user equipment device 704. Specifically, thethird user equipment device 706 may unicast profile informationcorresponding to second user equipment device 704 to first userequipment device 702.

Control circuitry of first user equipment device 702 then generatessecondary content based on the retrieved profile informationcorresponding to second user equipment device 704. For example, controlcircuitry of first user equipment device 702 may determine that seconduser equipment device 704 has previously processed data related tosoccer matches in which Arsenal has played, and therefore, generatesecondary content comprising of a score update related to the soccermatch between Arsenal and Chelsea football clubs. The specific systemsand methods for generating the secondary content at first user equipmentdevice 702 were discussed in more detail above with reference to FIGS. 5and 6 .

Finally, control circuitry of first user equipment device 702 unicaststhe generated secondary content over LAN 708 to second user equipmentdevice 704 for integration with the primary content being generated fordisplay at second user equipment device 704. As illustrated in FIG. 7 ,for example, control circuitry of first user equipment device 702unicasts a score update 710 related to the soccer match between Arsenaland Chelsea football clubs over LAN 708 to second user equipment device704 to be integrated within the movie “Wall-E” in a non-obtrusive mannersuch that a user viewing the movie on second user equipment device 704can view the score update without interruption of the movie-watchingexperience.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of an illustrative process 800 for distribution ofsecondary content between user equipment devices over a LAN, inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. Process 800 beginsat 802, where control circuitry 204 of a first device (e.g., second userequipment device 704) multicasts a LAN-specific content beacon over aLAN (e.g., LAN 708). As discussed above, the multicast LAN-specificcontent beacon includes a request for secondary content to be integratedwith the primary content being generated for display at the firstdevice.

At 804, control circuitry 204 determines whether a response to themulticast LAN-specific content beacon over the LAN requestingidentification information of the first device has been received. Forinstance, control circuitry 204 of second user equipment device 704periodically multicasts the LAN-specific content beacon over LAN 708until a response is received from one of more other user equipmentdevices connected within LAN 708. Once a response to the multicastLAN-specific content beacon over LAN 708 is received, the processproceeds to 806. As discussed above, the response to the multicastLAN-specific content beacon includes an identifier uniquely identifyingfirst user equipment device 702 (e.g., a MAC address) and a request foridentification information uniquely identifying second user equipmentdevice 704.

At 806, identification information of the first device is unicast to thesecond device. For example, control circuitry 204 of second userequipment device 704 (i.e., first device) unicasts identificationinformation uniquely identifying second user equipment device 704 (e.g.,a MAC address) to first user equipment device 702 (i.e., second device).At 808, the first device (e.g., control circuitry 204 of second userequipment device 704) receives a unicast stream from the second device(e.g., first user equipment device 702) where the unicast streamcomprises secondary content generated based on profile informationassociated with the first device. For example, control circuitry 204 ofsecond user equipment device 704 receives secondary content comprising ascore update related to a soccer match between Arsenal and Chelseafootball clubs based on profile information associated with second userequipment device 704 indicative of soccer matches featuring Arsenalbeing consumed on second user equipment device 704.

At step 810, the first device (e.g., control circuitry 204 of seconduser equipment device 704) generates a display combining the receivedsecondary content with the primary content previously being generatedfor display at the first device. For example, control circuitry 204 ofsecond user equipment device 704 generates a combined content whichcombines the received score update with the movie “Wall-E” previouslybeing generated for display at second user equipment device 704. At step812, the first device (e.g., control circuitry 204 of second userequipment device 704) outputs the combined content for display. Forexample, control circuitry 204 of second user equipment device 704generates a combined content which integrates the score update on abillboard shown in the movie “Wall-E.”

It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that methodsinvolved in the present invention may be embodied in a computer programproduct that includes a computer-usable and/or -readable medium. Forexample, such a computer-usable medium may consist of a read-only memorydevice, such as a CD-ROM disk or conventional ROM device, or arandom-access memory, such as a hard drive device or a computerdiskette, having a computer-readable program code stored thereon. Itshould also be understood that methods, techniques, and processesinvolved in the present disclosure may be executed using processingcircuitry.

The processes discussed above are intended to be illustrative and notlimiting. One skilled in the art would appreciate that the steps of theprocesses discussed herein may be omitted, modified, combined, and/orrearranged, and any additional steps may be performed without departingfrom the scope of the invention. More generally, the above disclosure ismeant to be exemplary and not limiting. Only the claims that follow aremeant to set bounds as to what the present invention includes.Furthermore, it should be noted that the features and limitationsdescribed in any one embodiment may be applied to any other embodimentherein, and flowcharts or examples relating to one embodiment may becombined with any other embodiment in a suitable manner, done indifferent orders, or done in parallel. In addition, the systems andmethods described herein may be performed in real time. It should alsobe noted, the systems and/or methods described above may be applied to,or used in accordance with, other systems and/or methods. For example,processes 400, 500, 600, and 800 can be performed on any of the devicesshown in FIGS. 1-3 . Additionally, any of the steps in processes 400,500, 600, and 800 can be performed in any order, can be omitted, and/orcan be combined with any of the steps from any other process.

While some portions of this disclosure may make reference to“convention,” any such reference is merely for the purpose of providingcontext to the invention(s) of the instant disclosure, and does not formany admission as to what constitutes the state of the art.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for displaying secondary content over alocal area network (LAN), the method comprising: determining whether afirst device within the LAN has access to a user profile associated withthe first device via a wide area network (WAN); and in response todetermining the first device does not have access to the user profileassociated with the first device via the WAN: multicasting aLAN-specific content beacon over the LAN from the first device withinthe LAN, wherein the LAN-specific content beacon includes information ofcontent available to be shared over the LAN from the first device;receiving a response to the content beacon from a second device withinthe LAN requesting identification information of the first device; inresponse to receiving the response to the content beacon from the seconddevice within the LAN, unicasting identification information of thefirst device to the second device over the LAN; receiving a unicaststream from the second device over the LAN at the first device, theunicast stream being secondary content generated based on identificationinformation of the first device; generating a display at the firstdevice integrating the secondary content with primary content; andoutputting the display with the first device.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the multicast LAN-specific content beacon comprises a requestfor the secondary content.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein theresponse to the content beacon comprises an identifier uniquelyidentifying the second device.
 4. The method of claim 1, whereinunicasting identification information of the first device to the seconddevice over the LAN comprises: unicasting identification informationuniquely identifying the first device; and unicasting informationrelated to the primary content being generation for display on the firstdevice prior to receiving the secondary content.
 5. The method of claim1, wherein generating a display at the first device integrating thesecondary content with other content comprises: generating a combinedcontent stream comprising the secondary content and the primary contentfrom the application; and generating for display the combined contentstream at the display of the first device.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein the received secondary content is based on data related toprocessed content associated with the first device.
 7. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the LAN-specific content beacon includes information ofcontent to which the first device has access rights to, and wherein thereceived secondary content is based on content to which the first devicehas access rights to.
 8. A system for displaying secondary content overa local area network (LAN), the system comprising control circuitryconfigured to: determine whether a first device within the LAN hasaccess to a user profile associated with the first device via a widearea network (WAN); and in response to determining the first device doesnot have access to the user profile associated with the first device viathe WAN: multicast a LAN-specific content beacon over the LAN from thefirst device within the LAN, wherein the LAN-specific content beaconincludes information of content available to be shared over the LAN fromthe first device; receive a response to the content beacon from a seconddevice within the LAN requesting identification information of the firstdevice; in response to receiving the response to the content beacon fromthe second device within the LAN, unicast identification information ofthe first device to the second device over the LAN; receive a unicaststream from the second device over the LAN at the first device, theunicast stream being secondary content generated based on identificationinformation of the first device; generate a display at the first deviceintegrating the secondary content with primary content; and output thedisplay with the first device.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein themulticast LAN-specific content beacon comprises a request for thesecondary content.
 10. The system of claim 8, wherein the response tothe content beacon comprises an identifier uniquely identifying thesecond device.
 11. The system of claim 8, wherein the control circuitry,when unicasting identification information of the first device to thesecond device over the LAN, is further configured to: unicastidentification information uniquely identifying the first device; andunicast information related to the primary content being generation fordisplay on the first device prior to receiving the secondary content.12. The system of claim 8, wherein the control circuitry, whengenerating a display at the first device integrating the secondarycontent with other content, is further configured to: generate acombined content stream comprising the secondary content and the primarycontent from the application; and generate for display the combinedcontent stream at the display of the first device.
 13. The system ofclaim 8, wherein the received secondary content is based on data relatedto processed content associated with the first device.
 14. The system ofclaim 8, wherein the LAN-specific content beacon includes information ofcontent to which the first device has access rights to, and wherein thereceived secondary content is based on content to which the first devicehas access rights to.
 15. A non-transitory computer-readable mediumcomprising instructions for displaying secondary content over a localarea network (LAN) that when executed by control circuitry causes thecontrol circuitry to: determine whether a first device within the LANhas access to a user profile associated with the first device via a widearea network (WAN); and in response to determining the first device doesnot have access to the user profile associated with the first device viathe WAN: multicast a LAN-specific content beacon over the LAN from thefirst device within the LAN, wherein the LAN-specific content beaconincludes information of content available to be shared over the LAN fromthe first device; receive a response to the content beacon from a seconddevice within the LAN requesting identification information of the firstdevice; in response to receiving the response to the content beacon fromthe second device within the LAN, unicast identification information ofthe first device to the second device over the LAN; receive a unicaststream from the second device over the LAN at the first device, theunicast stream being secondary content generated based on identificationinformation of the first device; generate a display at the first deviceintegrating the secondary content with primary content; and output thedisplay with the first device.
 16. The non-transitory computer-readablemedium of claim 15, wherein the multicast LAN-specific content beaconcomprises a request for the secondary content.
 17. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the response to thecontent beacon comprises an identifier uniquely identifying the seconddevice.
 18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15,further comprising instructions that when executed by the controlcircuitry causes the control circuitry, when unicasting identificationinformation of the first device to the second device over the LAN, to:unicast identification information uniquely identifying the firstdevice; and unicast information related to the primary content beinggeneration for display on the first device prior to receiving thesecondary content.
 19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium ofclaim 15, further comprising instructions that when executed by thecontrol circuitry causes the control circuitry, when generating adisplay at the first device integrating the secondary content with othercontent, to: generate a combined content stream comprising the secondarycontent and the primary content from the application; and generate fordisplay the combined content stream at the display of the first device.20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein thereceived secondary content is based on data related to processed contentassociated with the first device.
 21. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the LAN-specific contentbeacon includes information of content to which the first device hasaccess rights to, and wherein the received secondary content is based oncontent to which the first device has access rights to.